SINGAPORE, Aug 20 (Reuters) - Brent crude inched up onMonday to more than $114 a barrel as the United States' plan torelease strategic petroleum reserves faced stiff resistance, buthopes for a revival in North Sea crude output kept a lid ongains.

Oil prices slipped last week after a source said the WhiteHouse was "dusting off" plans for potentially tapping theStrategic Petroleum Reserve to prevent high energy costs fromundermining the success of sanctions against Iran.

Japan and South Korea, as well as the head of theInternational Energy Agency (IEA), the energy watchdog of theWest, said on Friday there was no reason to release U.S.reserves to arrest the rise in gasoline prices.

Brent crude for October rose 55 cents to $114.26 abarrel by 0636 GMT after falling more than $2 on Friday onexpectations the U.S. might release some of its reserves. U.S.oil added 48 cents to $96.49.

Brent has risen about a third in less than two months fromthe year's low of $88.49, boosted by supply concerns after adispute between Iran and the West over the Middle Easterncountry's nuclear programme.

"The market may have reason to believe that it wasscare-mongering, especially if the IEA is suggesting it won't besupportive of the release of reserves," said Natalie Robertson,an analyst at ANZ in Sydney.

"Brent has been supported by the ongoing disruption in NorthSea supplies, but they are expected to ease in the comingmonths, which could dampen prices."

TO RELEASE OR NOT TO RELEASE

U.S. officials are collecting information about potentialneeds and studying futures, production numbers and data onIranian oil exports, the source said on Thursday.

A day later, Maria van der Hoeven, executive director of theIEA, said there was no reason for a release, adding that themarket was sufficiently supplied.

She said she had not discussed a potential release withmembers of the Paris-based IEA, which is charged withcoordinating use of consumer nations' strategic inventories.

Britain and France appeared open to discussing thepossibility, but officials in Japan and South Korea said onFriday they saw no cause for action, adding that stock releaseswere usually considered during supply shortages, and notprompted by price gains.

Adding to worries were incidents of unrest in the MiddleEast, specifically in Libya where a car bomb killed two peopleon Sunday and an attack on a mosque in Yemen which killed seven.

NORTH SEA

Brent crude has also been supported in recent weeks byexpectations of shrinking North Sea production, which will fallabout 17 percent in September from August, as the key Buzzardfield will be offline for maintenance.

Buzzard is Britain's largest oilfield and is suspendingoutput until about mid-October. Buzzard is the single biggestcontributor to the Forties stream, which in turn is the largestof four crude flows that set the price for Brent.

Still, this shortfall is viewed as a temporary glitch, withtraders expecting the pressure to ease in coming months when themaintenance is completed.

"Tightness in the North Sea should ease after maintenance atthe Buzzard field is completed after September," Morgan Stanleyanalysts led by Hussein Allidina said in a note on Monday.

"Increased supply from the Forties stream, planned refinerymaintenance in the Atlantic Basin and a potential return ofSudanese and South Sudanese supply portend to a more comfortable4Q12 crude balance."

Prices are expected to remain range-bound this week, giventhe shortage of economic data releases at this time of themonth, added ANZ's Robertson.

Traders are still looking to the minutes of the last FederalOpen Market Committee's (FOMC) July 31-Aug 1 meeting this week,which may provide cues on the U.S. Federal Reserve's view onfurther policy easing.

Demand for crude oil has remained sluggish because of theglobal economic slowdown, but with Europe and the U.S. headingtowards winter, low gasoil inventories may provide fundamentalsupport to crude, Deutsche Bank analysts said in a weekly noteon Friday.